Renee Ramey - Inside METALCON 2021

By Colin Sheehan, RCS Reporter.

In this special edition episode of Roofing Road Trips, Heidi talks with Renee Ramey on the METALCON floor! 

In Season 3, Episode 63 of Roofing Road Trips, Heidi takes the opportunity to chat in-person with Renee Ramey at METALCON 2021. In this episode, the two discuss the hottest products in metal and what has been made an impression on them at the show. They also talk about a recent study conducted by the Metal Roofing Alliance (MRA), their market share report and MRA’s 2022 initiatives.  

Renee has been in the industry for over 25 years, starting out in steel and paint conversion, before moving into her position today as the executive director of the Metal Roofing Alliance, a nonprofit trade association focused on promoting and educating homeowners about metal roofing.  

“There's a lot of myths out there, misconceptions, false information or just unawareness of metal roofing as an alternative for your roof on a home,” said Renee. “We exist to make sure that homeowners get accurate information in an easy to read, easy to understand format in one spot, and that we really dispel those myths, open their eyes to all the different options that are available with metal roofing.” 

Renee and the team at MRA want to make sure that metal roofing becomes part of a homeowner’s consideration when they need to reroof their house. Since MRA was founded, they have conducted annual market research studies and found that metal roofing continues to rise in popularity among residential markets. 

"We went from 12% in 2019 to 15% of the reroof market in 2020. So, we continue to make great strides in market share against asphalt and against some of the other products that are out there,” said Renee. 

More and more homeowners are looking for roofs that offer sustainability, longevity and beauty, which they can get from choosing metal. Not only is most metal made from recycled product, it’s also recyclable at the end of its life cycle. Metal also provides energy savings, as well as being the best platform to hold solar roof systems. 

“It's really a good alternative if you're interested in the solar side [and] it's durable,” said Renee. “In fact, I'll bring it to a current example. One of our members worked with us to install [a metal roof] on a residential home in Alabama. As it turned out, the roof was done just a few weeks before Hurricane Ida came through. And they were directly in the path of the hurricane and the homes around them, and we have video footage of it, are just decimated. Their roof was 100 percent, just looks great, performed exactly as it should have [and] the home was kept safe.” 

Listen to the entire podcast to hear more from MRA’s executive director and the innovative products that hit the floor at METALCON 2021.